Indian Peace Medals
1817 James Monroe Indian Peace Medal. Bronze. Third Size. First Reverse. Julian IP-10, Prucha-41. MS-64 BN (NGC).
50.9 mm. 1111.1 grains. Beautiful rich chocolate brown bronze with just a trace of what might be best termed subtle marbling in the obverse patina. Glossy throughout with inviting reflectivity in the fields and sharp, slightly satiny devices. A couple of tiny inactive patina spots and some tiny rim impairments are noted, but easily forgiven on this rare and quite attractive medal. Struck from the original dies, the reverse is the early die state with only a single chip in the rim near 3:00. The superb surfaces of this example also show light spalling in the field beneath PEACE. It seems that the silver Peace medals have gotten the lion’s share of the attention over the years, which they certainly deserve, but this does not mean that the bronzes are less worthy examples of medallic art. The small-size Monroe Peace medals are very rare in any form, and perhaps even rarer in bronze than in silver! Carl Carlson found only five auction appearances for bronzes, compared to nine for silver medals. John Ford had only a single bronze example in his collection, but two in silver. Our own archives from the last decade suggest that we have handled just a single bronze example, this one, in our 2011 Americana Sale. While few collectors have the patience or resources necessary for a set of silver Peace medals, the series in bronze is quite collectable. However, there are challenges, to be sure, and this is one of them.
Ex Presidential Coin and Antique, May 1981, lot 376; Presidential Coin and Antique, December 2005, lot 543; Aesculapius Collection of Indian Peace Medals, Stack’s, January 2011, lot 6214.
Estimate: $1000